A comparative study between eurocode 3 and NBE-EA-95 for standard steel construction

The steel construction code Eurocode-3 (EC3) presents major differences when compared to the current Spanish code EA-95. In this paper the authors try to analyze the differences and their importance on the analysis and design of planar multistory frames as well as pitched roof portal frames, commonly used for commercial and industrial buildings, respectively. A careful examination is made on the different ways that EC3 allows for the analysis of sway and non-sway frames, as well as a detailed comparison with EA-95 of the methods used for structural verification of the individual members. Finally, different design comparisons are made for standard multistory planar frames as well as a pitched roof portal frame.